Car Overheated / Overheating / Overheats [MERGED]

[NTRCOOL]

OVERHEATING? The issues and their solutions have remained the same- either you don't have enough cool air reaching the rad, there's a cooling system obstruction which is preventing coolant from circulating, or your head gasket has failed and is allowing coolant to be consumed or pushed away from the engine.

Discuss all possible overheating problems and solutions here.


OK,
I just left my house to go over to my GF's,and happen to look down and see my needle right before the red mark. This just happened out of nowhere. I stop the car as quickly as i can, and pour in some coolant(Coolant a little low). Still same thing. Welp im in the middle of the road, and HAD to get it home. Im only 5 min from my house. I decided to try and make it(I really had no other choice). Welp I drive no faster than 20mph, and the temp needle is BARELY into the red the whole way.And occasionaly to the left of it. Am I ok?? Do ya think any damage was done?? And im thinking either thermostat, or water pump. For each of those, whats a round about $$ figure to get replaced?? Any info you have would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[SinaiTSi]

I just went outside again to turn the heat on to cool down the engine even more, I think I just fryed the thermostat or water pump because engine is plenty hot and no hot air comes out. Is that right?

 

[1993eclipseGS]

The car is a 1995 Eclipse GST.
5spd.
6bolt swap

The problem is, The car overheats bad. It blows HOTT air into the coolant bottle, Which is causing the coolant to bubble like crazy. Once the car cools down, I take the cap off the neck, And there is NO visible coolant left. It's not draining out, It's actually evaporating from getting so hot.

One thing I noticed, There is a sensor on the t-stat neck that does not have anything connected to it. It's a 3prong male connection on the end. It's at the bottom of the t-stat housing, More to the left.

I can warm the car up and it does not bubble, But as soon as I start driving, It does what I just desribed. There looks to be a very very small tint to my coolant from oil, But it's not even noticeable really.

I replaced the upper radiator hose cause it was like hott bubble gum, I replace the t-stat, And cap. What else could it be? I also drained the coolant all the way out, Then added new all back in and let the car warm up without the cap on until it was about to come out, Then I put the cap on.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I cannot drive the car. It's been sitting for 4 days and I really need to fix it.

 

[stinktown1]

have you pressurized the cooling system with a pressure tester
you have checked the belts that they are tight enough
there is also a tool that you can use to evac the cooling system and then replace the coolant while the system is under vacuum this helps to get all air out of system
what kind of t-stat did you put in OEM or aftermarket there is a diff at least here there was

 

[1993eclipseGS]

The t-stat is a 180* I believe, It's whatever is stock. I have not tried anything else yet. I was just assuming the worst, And thinking it was my headgasket.. That is why i'm trying to get people to reply to help me try to solve my problem.

 

[ddavisaf]

Your radiator cap is what keeps your coolant from boiling. Try replacing the radiator cap. Make sure your fans are functional.
I'll get someone to bring my 6 bolt swap over here in a few after he's done with a meeting and I'll verify that connector for you. I can't think of it off the top of my head right now.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

I replaced the radiator cap but the problem is still occuring. The sensor i'm talking about has a male end, With 3 little prongs for a plug to connect to.

 

[ddavisaf]

Okay, there's a plug that runs with the same wire bundle your fuel injector harnesses. You'll see where the coolant sensor bundle breaks off from the fuel injector bundle. There should be two plugs that leave from there and goto your thermostat housing. The two bundles connect behind the head where the intake manifold meets it. The larger bundle (combined) runs by your motor mount. Tell me if you can find it.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

I'm going to check at 5 as soon as I get off of work, Since i'm at work now and the car is at home. That would be nice if that's all it was, But knowing my luck it's the worst that can happen. Thanks for the help so far, Even if this isn't the problem, I'd like to figure out the sensor/plug situation too, Which you're helping me with.

 

[v2ner]

BTW, how's your oil looking like? milky? if it is milky, is it just milky in the head or out of the oilpan?

 

[1993eclipseGS]

I have not checked the oil yet, But when the car warms up with the radiator cap off.. There is a slight oil tint coming up through the antifreeze, Also, You can see a small hint of oil in my over flow coolant bottle.

 

[huafist]

Compression test. Then go from there.

 

[rampridersrider]

Here's the deal. My gf has a 94 Eclipse with the 4G37 motor. Good running car and gets good gas mileage. Anyway, I had to drive it for a month while my car was in the shop and I noticed when leaving in the morning for work it would take forever to warm up. Like 20 minutes of driving till it would meat opporating temps and the heater wouldn't even start to get warm. It would also start to get hot after driving it for an hour and a half or two hours of driving. I figured the thermostat was stuck open, but that wouldn't explain the overheating, so I put in a new thermostat anyway. Well when I pulled off the water neck I noticed something. There wasn't a thermostat in there which would explain why it took forever to warm up. At first I thought maybe I was looking in the wrong spot, but it all lined up right and this is where all thermostats are so I just put the new one in. At start up I checked for leaks and took it down the road. It immediately got warm and up to opp. temps. Then it started getting really hot. It started getting really close to the red zone and I was freaking out and getting pissed. When all of the sudden it dropped straight to where it should be. I am guessing the new thermostat was stuck for a second before it would open up again. Not to sure to be honest. Now her heater works great, but the temp gauge seems like it might be fluctuating slightly. Could be me, but I don't know. I am just wondering if there wasn't a thermostat before why would it still overheat and why would a thermostat fix that. Its full of antifreeze and I put on a new radiator cap in case it was losing pressure. The antifreeze is a pretty green color and the car does not smoke so I have sorta ruled out a blown headgasket. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Defiant]

Check the radiator fins for an accumulation of crud. After that, I'd suggest the radiator itself is cruddy on the inside. The car was apparently owned by a moron, so there's no telling.
Also, check the firmness of your radiator hoses. The lower one may be so old that it's sucking itself closed.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

Well, I pressure tested the brand new radiator cap i had bought, And it held no pressure. I bought a new oem mitsubishi cap, drove the car a little bit and no boiling, no overheating? I think this may have been the problem. Very strange if it was...

 

[ddavisaf]

Very normal

 

[1993eclipseGS]

Well, I drove the car about 30 or so miles and it started to overheat. While it started to overheat, The heat started to turn cold. I replaced the brand new thermostat, With another one. The heat is cold but if i drive it it gets warmer occassionally, But at idle it blows cold. The two lines to the motor from the heatercore are hott so i don't think it's that. I have no idea what to do. ANY suggestions, Please?

 

[1993eclipseGS]

The compression is between 130-140 in each cylinder. Also, Now when I go to start the car, With the radiator cap off.. The coolant starts coming out. This is when the car hasen't been started for a whole day even, So the coolant isn't even warmed up.. It just stuarts pouring out. I can drive it for alittle bit, Then the heat goes away, The car starts overheating, And thats it then. I'm going to take it back to the shop I guess.

ANY suggestions?

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

That is either a headgasket or cracked head for sure. I am going to say headgasket just because i have never heard of a cracked head on a DSM. Not a big problem. Reason I say headgasket is this. When it blows out all of the compression that should be built up in the combusion chamber exit's through the break in the headgasket and goes to the first open place. A coolant passage. Thereby blowing coolant out of the rad. cap when it is off. Hope that explains it good enough for you.

 

[project_tsi]

ANY suggestions?

Yeah man, get the AWD Talon back!

 

[Eternalsolitude]

Before you do the following, do as previously suggested with the coolant system, such as pressure test, thermostat, etc. If the problem persists, do the following:

Once your car is running, put your thumb over the hose the goes into the coolant bottle(that would require removing it, obviously) Cover it for several seconds then release it. If pressure builds up, there is air coming from your coolant system, which would hint to a blown head gasket. You don't necessarily need muddy oil to indicate a blown head gasket.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

I already replaced the thermostat and radiator cap. The compression is 130-140 across the board. The coolant bottle bubbles because the hose that runs into it blows tons of hot air/pressure out of it. As soon as I start the car now, With the rad cap off(Even if the car sat over nite) the coolant starts flying out of the neck. The car is at the shop again. I also lost my heat, It blows all cold air now.

 

[Eternalsolitude]

Another problem that is related to the head gasket may be it hand.

Check and make sure that the head studs are torqued properly. If a car sits for an allotted amount of time, componants can loosen. I know this is what had happened with my gsx when i found it. It didn't have a "blown" head gasket, but the air would escape from above/below the cylinders and into coolant ducts. Since then I have replaced it with a metal head gasket and new head studs.

 

[ddavisaf]

Your engine needs a rebuild. Service limit on 95-99 cars is 133 psi on any cylinder.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

The car has a 6bolt swap. Also, I thought if you had low compression, One of the problems would mean a blown headgasket, Not only rings etc etc...

 

[blueberry_dsm]

hey guys, there are only a few things i am aware of that can do this.


1)blown head gasket

2)bad thermostat

3)WARPED HEAD-very common, have your head milled and put a new head gasket on. that should solve the problem